7 Best Credit Cards for Restaurants in 2018

If you dine out frequently, having a rewards credit card that pays great rewards on restaurant purchases is a must have. You’ll earn top rewards on your dining purchases, while enjoying rewards on all your other purchases too. The best credit cards for restaurants all pay rewards on your non-restaurant purchases and a few even offer generous signup bonuses for new cardholders.

Uber Visa

The Uber Visa wins the award for the best credit card for restaurants.

The credit card pays a whopping 4 percent back on dining including restaurants, takeout, bars, and even UberEATS. On top of the 4 percent rewards you earn on dining purchases, you’ll also earn 3 percent back on travel purchases, 2 percent on online purchases (including Uber rides), and 1 percent on all your other Uber Visa purchases.

A few other perks include a $50 subscription credit for online subscription services after you spend $5,000 or more on your credit card in a year; up to $600 on mobile phone protection if you pay your phone bill with your credit card; access to exclusive events; and no foreign transaction fees on purchases you make in other currencies. Unlike many other rewards, there's no signup bonus for new cardholders.

There’s no annual fee and the APR is between 16.49 percent and 25.24 percent depending on your credit history at the time you open your account.

Costco Anywhere Visa

With the Costco Anywhere Visa you'll earn 3 percent cash back on both restaurant and eligible travel purchases worldwide.

You'll also earn 4 percent cash back on up to $7,000 in gas purchases each year; 2 percent on all purchases made at Costco and Costco.com; and 1 percent cash back on all your other purchases.

Redeeming your rewards is a little prohibitive: you can only redeem your rewards once a year and you can only redeem them at Costco.

If you’re a big Costco shopper or you want to use your rewards for a big purchase, being forced to save up your rewards may not be a bad thing.

Naturally, you must be a Costco member to apply for the credit card, which is issued by Citi. The current price of a membership for one is $60. Since it’s a Visa credit card, you can use the Costco Anywhere credit card anywhere Visa is accepted.

The regular APR for purchases and balance transfers is 16.74 percent and there's no annual fee or foreign transaction.

Capital One Savor

Savor is a fitting name for a credit card that pays great rewards on food purchases. The Capital One Savor pays an unlimited 3 percent on dining; 2 percent on groceries; and 1 percent on all other purchases. New cardholders can earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Capital One Savor makes it easy to max out your restaurant purchases with no spending caps. There’s no limit on the rewards you can earn and you can redeem rewards in any amount.

There’s no annual fee, plus you’ll enjoy 0 percent introductory APR on purchase and balance transfers for the first 9 months. After that, the regular APR kicks in at 15.99 percent to 24.74 percent depending on your credit history.

AARP Credit Card from Chase

The AARP Credit Card from Chase pays 3 percent cash back rewards on restaurant purchases. And for every restaurant purchase you make with your AARP Credit Card from Chase, 10 cents will be donated to AARP Foundation in support of Drive to Hunger. On top of the 3 percent you earn on restaurant purchases, you’ll earn 3 percent cash back on gas station purchases and 1 percent cash back on all other purchases. You can earn an unlimited amount of rewards and your rewards won’t expire as long as your credit card is open and in good standing.

Earn a $200 signup bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account. To be eligible for the bonus, you must be a new cardholder and have not received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

You can redeem your rewards as a statement credit, a direct deposit into a savings our checking account, for gift cards for brands Amazon and Starbucks, travel, or an access code for AARP membership.

There's no annual fee. The regular APR for purchases and balance transfers is 17.74 percent to 24.49 percent based on your creditworthiness.

U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa

The U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa credit card gives you the flexibility to optimize your rewards based on how you spend. Earn 5 percent cash back on your first $2,000 in combined purchases each quarter on two categories you choose. That means you can make one of your categories restaurants and earn 5 percent on up to $2,000 in restaurant purchases each quarter. You’ll also earn unlimited 2 percent cash back on one everyday category like gas or groceries and 1 percent on all other purchases.

To jumpstart your cash rewards, you can earn a $150 signup bonus after you spend $500 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

There’s no annual fee and no minimum required redemption amount. You can redeem cash back in the form of a statement credit or a deposit make to a U.S. bank account. Rewards will expire 36 months after the billing cycle when you earned them.

Enjoy a 0 percent introductory APR on balance transfers for the first 12 billing cycles on balances you transfer within the first 60 days. The regular APR is 15.49 percent to 24.49 percent based on your creditworthiness. There's no annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a premium travel rewards credit card with lots of perks like a $300 annual travel credit and a $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or PreCheck.

For frequent diners, you’ll earn three points per dollar on dining worldwide. You’ll also earn three points per dollar on all your travel purchases and one point per dollar on everything else.

As a new cardholder, you can earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening your credit card. You can redem your points for up to $750 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

As a premium rewards credit card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $450 annual fee and a $75 annual fee for any additional authorized users (you can add up to four). The APR for purchases and balance transfers is 17.49 percent to 24.49 percent based on your creditworthiness.

Discover it Secured

It’s tough finding a rewards credit card when you don’t have the best credit score. The Discover it Secured it great for rebuilding your credit and earning rewards. You’ll earn 2 percent cash back at your restaurant and gas station purchases up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. All your other purchases on the Discover it Secured earn 1 percent cash back. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you earn in your first year of opening your credit card.

Because it’s a secured credit card, you must make a minimum $200 security deposit to open your credit card. After eight months, you may qualify to receive a refund of your security deposit and keep your credit limit.

As a Discover customer you get free access to your FICO score and free Social Security number alerts, notifying you if your social security number is found on risky websites across the internet.

There’s no annual fee on the Discover it Secured credit card and the APR is 24.24 percent.